Trevor Ariza arrived in Los Angeles six months after Kobe Bryant asked out. The Lakers had gone three years without winning a playoff series and were starting a season that amounted to an audition. They did not need to win the championship, or even make the NBA Finals for that matter, but they had to show Bryant he would be a fool to leave. Ariza was a bit player on that team, able to observe how a superstar was placated and a potential dynasty created.

"I don't think I had anything to do with it -- that was Pau Gasol -- but one move happens and then another move happens and everything clicked," Ariza said. "That made all of it go away."

Now Ariza is heading to New Orleans, nearly a month after Chris Paul reportedly put together a wish list of other teams for whom he would prefer to play. Once again, Ariza is being sent into a potential crisis, with the hope of quelling it. Ariza alone will not be able to appease Paul -- he may need another Gasol for that -- but he has at least helped defuse him, and in the case of frustrated superstars, that's often the most important step.